17-year-old Florida girl arrested after paying two men 'a lot of money' to kill her parents
LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA: A Florida teen who had paid two people a "lot of money" to kill her parents has been arrested and charged.
Alyssa Michelle Hatcher, 17, a high school student from Umatilla, was arrested on September 9 after a resource officer from her school learned from another teenager that she had paid an individual a "lot of money to kill her parents" and contacted the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
An affidavit filed in connection to that case states that a subsequent investigation confirmed that Hatcher had stolen her parents' debit card and completed two transactions, one for $503 and another for $926.40. The money was later identified as being given to two different individuals to kill her parents.
When detectives interviewed her boyfriend, he said he had seen her at a known drug house early in the morning on September 9, where she told him she wanted to kill her parents.
Hatcher was then brought in for questioning herself and confessed in a recorded interview that she had stolen her parents' debit card and made the $503 and $926.40 transactions.
She said that, of the $500, she used $100 to buy cocaine, and gave the rest to a friend to give to someone who could kill her parents. She said that since her friend failed to find a hitman, she withdrew a further $900 and gave it to a black male for the same.
Hatcher has been charged with two counts of criminal solicitation for murder after her parents told police that they intended to persecute the teen. She was transported to the Lake County Jail, where she was processed and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Speaking about the case, Sergeant Fred Jones with the LCSO told Fox35, "This is a sad case when you think about the family dynamics and everything. I couldn’t even imagine something like that."
He also confirmed that the parents were the ones who pressed the charges. "When it comes to something like that I cannot imagine the shock you would be in as a parent knowing that this is my daughter -- what my daughter intended to do," he said.
"Whether it was going to take place or not, the money did exchange hands and we’re glad we were able to stop what could’ve happened," he added.
Police have not yet revealed a motive for the crime, and it is currently unclear if anyone else will be charged in connection to the case.